


Over the Seas and Far Away

by HopeStoryteller



Series: Of Golden Shores and Exiled Fools [3]
Category: Elder Scrolls Online
Genre: Everyone Is Gay, F/F, I have been sitting on this oneshot for a MONTH, Near Death Experiences, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:48:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27162730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeStoryteller/pseuds/HopeStoryteller
Summary: Morndas, 31st Frost Fall. 2E 582.
Relationships: Ayrenn Aldmeri/Female Vestige, Razum-dar & Female Vestige (Elder Scrolls)
Series: Of Golden Shores and Exiled Fools [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815742
Comments: 10
Kudos: 17





	Over the Seas and Far Away

“You wanted to see me?” Canalie asks. She fidgets nervously, but stands stock-still once Ayrenn turns around. For her part, Ayrenn pretends not to notice.

“No, I wanted to see your evil twin,” Ayrenn says flatly. The corner of her mouth quirks up into a grin. “Of  _ course _ I wanted to see you. It’s been a  _ month.” _

“And ten days,” Canalie adds without thinking.

Ayrenn raises an eyebrow but concedes, “And ten days. How have you been?”

Canalie blinks, clearly taken aback. “I—me?”

“Yes,  _ you, _ do you  _ see _ anyone else in here? And no, before you ask, Raz isn’t hiding in the closet.”

“That’s a first.”

Ayrenn looks at Canalie for a long moment and  _ sighs. _ “He started making the closet jokes again, didn’t he.”

“Mostly at my expense,” the blonde agrees. “I’m still not sure what being in the closet has to do with anything.”

“Stars and Aedra above, you really  _ did _ live under a rock.”

Canalie says nothing, but the tips of her ears flush a bright pink even as the rest of her face remains impressively impassive. Ayrenn decides not to comment, cute as it is. Or perhaps more accurately, she decides not to comment  _ yet. _

Instead, she says, “It’s… a euphemism. If someone is, say, a different gender than the body they were born in, or no gender at all, or they love others of the same sex as much as or more than the other one. It’s called being in the closet if you’re not open about that yet.”

_ “Oh. _ That… explains quite a bit, actually.”

Ayrenn sighs louder. “Has he been making any  _ other _ jokes at your expense?”

“Besides implying that I should, well, you know what it’s not important actually.” Canalie clears her throat hastily. “Hey, I bet Raz is spying on us outside. Want me to check?”

She is  _ probably _ right. Ayrenn nods anyway. It speaks volumes of her sense of self-preservation—or lack thereof—that she doesn’t step away when Canalie calls a thoroughly unfamiliar spell to her fingertips and casts it.

“It’s… a spell most people wouldn’t know, it’s used to detect traces of magic,” Canalie explains upon seeing her confusion.

“One from your…” Ayrenn grimaces. “Let’s say previous employers?”

Canalie visibly shudders as she casts the spell. Ayrenn doubts it’s from the effort. “Yeah. Let’s see… there’s Raz’s enchanted ring outside the door, no surprise there, he  _ really _ isn’t as subtle as he thinks he is—”

“Raz? Subtle?”

If he’s listening in, which of course he is, he remains surprisingly quiet even in the face of being insulted. It wouldn’t do to prove them right, after all.

Ayrenn loves Razum-dar, she does, but he is  _ so stubborn _ sometimes.

“Not at…” Canalie frowns, and looks toward the other side of the room. “My Qu—I mean Ayrenn. I mean this in all seriousness. What’s in your closet?”

“Nothing magical or enchanted, that I know of. What do you…”

Canalie gets it before Ayrenn does. She draws her sword, grabs her shield off her back and holds it at the ready. “Stay behind me. I’ve got a shield.”

That’s not  _ terrible _ logic, but Ayrenn isn’t going to waste time arguing it. Instead, she draws her own sword. “We do this together, or not at all.”

“I—you know what, fine! We don’t have time for this.  _ You _ don’t have time for this. Just please, let me do my job and protect you.”

“You of all people should know I don’t need protecting.” Ayrenn steps toward the door. She takes a deep breath, then wrenches it open, and leaps back.

A  _ Dwarven spider _ of all things pops out. It sparks intermittently, rotates around its base, and starts to make a beeping noise. A beeping noise…

That  _ might _ be bad.

And again, it clicks for Canalie before it does for Ayrenn. She rushes forward, jabbing her sword into the golden metal with a yell. “Get out of here! It might still—”

Just as Canalie’s trapped it between her shield and her chestplate, the machine sparks one last time and  _ explodes. _ Some kind of fortifying spell ripples gold over her armor, somehow—impossibly so—keeping the explosion from harming her.

Or perhaps more accurately, keeping the explosion from harming her  _ directly. _ Whatever she’s done does not keep the force of the explosion from sending her flying past Ayrenn.

Just as the gold ripples fade, her head smacks against the wall.

Ayrenn catches her before she hits the floor. She’s bleeding, but—she’s breathing. She’s breathing, she’ll survive. They all will, because of her.

The door slams open. Razum-dar rushes in, visibly alarmed and even more so when he sees the scene. “You’re—”

“I’m fine,” Ayrenn says, which feels like a lie. “Cana’s not. We need a healer.”

It’s only after they’ve gotten Canalie to the healer on board (thank the gods that she’d had the foresight to bring one) that Razum-dar says, quietly, “This one would very much like to know, what in  _ Oblivion _ happened?”

“She saved my life,” Ayrenn replies, numbly. It feels like an invasion of Canalie’s privacy to be here when she’s asleep, and yet Ayrenn can’t muster up the will to let go of her hand, never mind leave, now, when she’s so vulnerable. “She saved all our lives.”

Razum-dar raises an eyebrow and gestures for her to continue.

“My cabin is below the waterline,” Ayrenn elaborates. “Even if it hadn’t killed me, and it was clearly meant to, it was in  _ my _ closet… it could have  _ easily _ blown a hole in the floor, or in the side. We’re nowhere  _ near _ land.”

Razum-dar’s tail flicks irritably behind him. “Raz will investigate. Seeing as  _ this one _ —” He playfully jabs Ayrenn in the chest. “—has no intention of moving anytime soon, and therefore will not be able to determine who put that in your closet.”

“Oh, no,” Ayrenn deadpans, “it was definitely me. I forgot to tell you about my sudden interest in all things Dwemer.”

Smiling despite herself, she frowns as her attention returns to Canalie. It’s strange to see her without her armor. Even  _ more _ strange seeing her asleep.

“Should they try anything else,” Ayrenn adds, “I can handle them. I’m sure at this point they want her dead nearly as much as me.”

“Or Raz,” Razum-dar agrees lightly. “But Khajiit can keep himself perfectly safe as well. Warm sands, my friend.”

“Warm sands,” Ayrenn echoes. The door shuts and locks behind him, and when it does, Ayrenn pulls a disobedient strand of hair behind Cana’s ear. 

Softly, she whispers, “You’ll be okay. I don’t think you realize that I need you, perhaps far more than you need me.”

Canalie, of course, doesn’t respond. She’s unconscious. Of course. And Ayrenn wouldn’t be surprised if she remained so until they reached Haven, at least, leaving precious little time to spare before the Orrery. There will be time, somewhere. Ayrenn is a queen, after all. If she cannot find the time, she’ll make it herself.

Absorbed in her thoughts, Ayrenn doesn’t notice that Canalie’s pack is unbuckled, nor that it’s a little lighter than usual. She likely wouldn’t realize what was missing if she did.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're super confused as to what's happening, you might want to catch up with [Field Notes on Operation Bloodline](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25071340/chapters/60727738), a fic concerning what happens when a semi-loyal Thalmor agent from the Fourth Era is stranded in the second and has her entire worldview turned on its head. I feel like most people probably found this through Field Notes, though. (If you didn't, see Chapter 98.)
> 
> And no, this won't be the last scene I write out from her journal. I've already got another rather angsty one for a bit down the line...


End file.
